[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

(meteorobs) May 26/27 observation



Hi,

Last night (26/27) was nice and clear so I left for my dark observing 
site near Winchester, Ontario. When I arrived about sunset, there was 
already
a few other amateurs with scopes all set, eagerly awaiting darkness.

I began observing at 3:15 UT facing south-east. I was looking for any
possible Alpha Scorpiids from a low radiant near Antares. In fact, any
shower activity at this time would be from low, minor activity radiants, 
making it difficult for me to verify them from my high latitude in Canada.

A handfull of sporadics were seen. As many as 19 of them were in the
+4 or +5 range and many were very short paths of a few deg. I'm glad I 
had dark skies since I feel many would have been missed had I been closer 
to 
the city. The brightest was a 0 that moved shortly only 20d up the 
eastern horizon. It produced a 4sec train. A few other +1 and the rest 
normal or faint. My last hour was quite busy with a surprising 16 meteors 
! (gasp!)

I finished at 6:40 UT with total 2.78 teff and 32 meteors. Not bad, but I 
cant wait for the summer action to start! There is one observer in our
little group eager to get himself a lawn chair and try it out but I tell
him to wait a bit longer until the activity picks up more.

Tonight looks promising again but I will have to compromise and stay here
in my backyard. Last night's session and the full time job got me a bit
tired today. 

DATE: May 26/27 1998                      BEGIN: 3:15 UT  END: 6:40 UT
LOCATION: Long: 75.28.79 West; Lat: 45.04.93 North   Elevation: 395feet
City & Province: Winchester, Ontario, CAN

PERIOD(UT)  FIELD   Teff   F     LM    ASC OSC GSA ETA SPO
3:15-4:10   SE70d   0.90  1.00   6.29   0   0   0   0   7   
4:28-5:21   SE70d   0.85  1.00   6.35   0   0   0   0   9   
5:35-6:40   SE70d   1.03  1.00   6.30   0   0   0   0  16     
                                        Total: 32

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:

SHOWER    0  +1  +2  +3  +4  +5  +6  

SPO       1   3   4   4  12   7   1

Total dead time: 6min
Breaks: 4:10-4:28
        5:21-5:35                                




Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario, CAN
Meteor observing and Graphic design